ABlessing in Disguise

As I rode up the elevator to the third floor, I could not help but ask myself, “How did I get myself into this?” I stepped out of the elevator and I was in a long white hallway with gray limestone floors. My heart was pounding and my palms were sweaty as I continued to walk down the hall passing countless numbers of tall wooden doors. Finally, I came to a bench and sit down. No matter what I do, my heart will not stop pounding. I kept looking at my cell phone waiting for the time to change to one o’clock. While I was waiting, I scanned the hallway looking at the other people anticipating them to enter the room. I think to myself, “Why are they here? I wonder what they did?” Some of the people looked to not even mind being there, like they have been there many times. This place however was new to me. When I realized that I had not checked the time in a while, I looked at my cell phone and it read one o’clock. Just as I checked my cell phone, everyone in the hall stood up and started to walked to the doors that read “Courtroom Three.”

I believing in living life with no regrets. Everything we go through teaches us some kind of lesson and makes us the people we are today. If we take away some experiences, whether they are good or bad, we may not be the same person. Which is why I believe we should all live life with no regrets. Growing up, my mother always told me, “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” I always relate this to living life with no regrets because no matter what people go through in their lives, no matter how bad that experience is, we always come out of it as a stronger person and are able to face tougher times down the road. We are all going to go through adversity in our lives and I do not regret these experiences because they teach me valuable lessons to remember as I go through life. How are we not going to know what to not do if we do not mess up every now and then. This lesson was never more evident when I got arrested in my early months at college.

Anyone that goes to the University of Kentucky would tell you that home games are just a big party and it was the day of the University of Kentucky and LSU football game. This game turned into an even bigger party when UK beat LSU who was ranked number at the time. It was probably the biggest upset ever for UK football. Although, I do not consider myself a die-hard fan of UK, I partied that night like I was. A major aspect of college is the newly found freedom that goes along with living on your own. There are so many more temptations that college students have to deal with when they live away from home. For example, students can drink considerate amounts of alcohol and not have to answer to parents when they come home. Unfortunately, I did not realize you do have to answer the RA’s. When I got back to my dorm that night after the party, my resident advisor saw how severely intoxicated I was and called the police. When the police got there they asked me a few questions and gave me a breathalyzer. They also obviously saw how drunk I was and quickly snapped handcuffs on me.

As the police escorted me outside between all the different dorms, I can not even describe how embarrassed I was. I was then taken to the Fayette County Detention Center. The whole time that I was in the holding area, I was asking myself, “How am I going to tell my parents.” After a while, I realized I should not tell my parents and just take care of it myself. Because I have such good friends I was bailed out within three hours. Over the next two days I can honestly say I have never been so depressed and embarrassed at the same time. I decided to go into my court date and take care of it myself. As I sat in Courtroom Three waiting to here my name called, my heart was beating in anticipation, not knowing what to expect. Finally when my name was called, I slowly walked up to the podium and the judge said, “You are charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place.” Hearing the judge say those words felt like a dagger through my heart. Luckily enough, I was eligible for the diversion program, which meant all I had to do was complete some community service and pay a fine and the charge would be dismissed. When I walked out of the courtroom that day I was happy that the charge would eventually get dismissed but I also felt depressed because I felt like a failure.

Although it was terrible going through this experience, I do not regret it and I would never take it back. Even though I still felt bad after few days later, after a while, I realized what I had learned going through this experience. I learned when someone is given more freedom, they are also given more responsibility. I got so caught up in all the freedom that I obtained from going away to college, that I was not being responsible, and it caught up with me. After being arrested I am a much more responsible person when I drink. I know that getting that inebriated is dangerous and puts me in the position of getting arrested again. If I had never gotten arrested I would not have learned how stupid it is to get caught in college partying. Another reason I do not regret this is because it made me a stronger person. I am not saying that by getting arrested I am a tougher, but going through this experience makes some of the daily stresses just seem not as important. That is why I do not regret this experience, because if I had never gone through it, I could still be that reckless college freshman that does not think before he acts.

I believe in living life with no regrets. Every experience we go through whether it is good or bad can teach us a lesson. Sitting around and dwelling on the bad things we have done does not get anything accomplished. By messing up, no matter how big or small, it gives us a chance to stop and look at what we have done wrong so we know not to repeat it again. Regretting is useless and gets people no where. Regret keeps people from turning bad things into good things, which is why I believe in living life with no regrets.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.